Inferno
by DoYouWannaBee
Summary: "You idiot," Hiro wails into Tadashi's chest. "You absolute moron. I thought you were going to die." He cries, cleaning his runny nose on his brother hospital gown in revenge.


**Warnings:** AU, some language, hurt-comfort, angst with happy ending, injuries, incorrect medical jargon, hints of pyrophobia, no spoilers in here!

 **Summary:** _"You idiot," Hiro wails into Tadashi's chest. "You absolute moron. I thought you were going to die." He cries, cleaning his runny nose on his brother hospital gown in revenge._

 **Author's note:** I haven't been active here in a very long time, I deleted all the fanfiction I had in this account with the intent of starting new, and here I am once again! Though I haven't been posting on this site, I do have been writing and sharing my things in another sites and this is actually my 100 finished fanfiction! The song I used is about love between parents and their children, but I do believe if fits those two well. You should listen to it. Either way, I really hope you guys like it and please do tell me what you think of it. Thank you for reading :)

Nii-chan - Older brother

 _Roughly translated Lyrics of_ ; The Light _by_ The Ark

(...)

 _I know you always got my back back_

 _And you know I always got you right back_

 _Whenever you call you know that I'm right by your side_

 _I'll be that somebody, somebody_

 _We're in this for life yeah_

(...)

Hiro has always been a little antsy around fire. It wasn't like with people, where he'd hide behind Tadashi for protection, _though denying that he ever did_ , but instead he would stare absently at it, lost in thought, before taking a few steps away in caution.

Tadashi had caught on his little brother carefulness around fire and would make sure to double check and triple check whenever fire was involved. " _I just feel like I should be careful, like a sixth sense or something_." Hiro would say with a shrug whenever his family inquired him about.

That bad feeling came to light with the smell of smoke, the shouts of horror and bewilderment, it all hit him with full force. Hiro's hand grasping Tadashi's so tightly he wondered if it would bruise afterward, but couldn't find it in him to care.

 _"Callaghan's in there. Someone has to help."_

Hiro was crying out Tadashi's name, begging him to stop. He tried to yank his brother away from the burning building, to try and talk some sense into him, but it was useless. Instead, Tadashi shook his grip, sharp and fast, their eyes meeting one another and then he turned and run away, leaving Hiro to blink at him in shock.

Hiro yelled, worry in his voice as he roared out his older brother name, he stayed rooted in place, looking at the back of disappearing brother and a few seconds later he's running after Tadashi. If his older brother was stupid enough to enter a burning building, Hiro was stupid enough to try and keep him safe.

.

As soon as Hiro stepped foot inside the building his eyes started to water, the smell of smoke and heat making his head spin with anxiety. He brought a hand to his nose and started breathing through the sleeve of his hoodie. Fire exploded out and upward, flaring around him in white hot tongues that consumed everything in his path. Fragments of metal sliced through cement and brick wall.

For a moment he stood there, paralyzed with fear, eyes wide and terrified stared at the flames licking into every corner, the hissing of melting materials loud in his ears, breath stuttering from both smoke inhalation and panic, the floor creaked with every step Hiro took

"Tadashi," he shouts to his sleeve, the hot suffocating air burning his insides, ash making him gasp and cough. A loud crack catches his attention and not long after he finds himself on the floor, the world shakes as his heart thrashes in his chest. He closes his eyes as his knees almost give away with the agony that roars in his shoulder.

With every step, the sounds grew lower and more ominous. Tight walls squeezed around him, and the ceiling bulged and dipped as occasional showers of dust rained down. The air he was trying to breath was slowly poisoning him, making him dizzy and light headed. Every inch of his skin was burning with the scorching heat of the flames. "Tada-nii," he cries, trying to comfort himself with his brother's name.

The air was parched, Hiro's mouth turned dry with every desperate breath. His skin felt as if it was cracking, heating up with the flames dancing around. Just then, Tadashi came around the corner in the same instant a torrent of fire shook the building to its foundations, snapping the support beams like a twig and that was the last straw. With a deafening roar, the edifice began to collapse.

He could hear nothing, only the roar of the building coming down around them. Dimly, he heard Tadashi shouting at him to take cover. Take cover _where_? His stomach dropped nauseatingly when he moved, his muscles screaming at him to stop. One particularly powerful quake sent him stumbling onto his hands and knees once again, with one last grunt the roof gave away and came down on Tadashi.

Hiro yelled as the world around him exploded, grit and ashes flooded his mouth, making his eyes watering fiercely and his lungs rebelling with a heavy cough, he curls up in a ball with his eyes squeezed shut, welcoming the darkness.

.

Hiro hissed and brought his hand up to his forehead. He could feel his head throbbing, and there was a sticky warmth matting his hair and oozing out onto his fingers. Finally, he managed to pry his eyes open and there, amidst the fallen debris, he could see Tadashi. He was lying on the floor with his eyes closed and his legs trapped under a mountain of rubble.

He was also not moving, and Hiro panicked, choking on a scream, his breath started to come out in ragged puffs, making his already hurting head throb with a sharp pain. "Tadashi, you're okay?" Hiro managed to wheeze out.

No answer. Every movement brought pain, he wasn't sure if anything was broken and there wasn't time to check. "Say something." He yelled in panic, something raw and agonizing twisting in his chest, Hiro felt sick and lost. _Tadashi wasn't dead_.

He choked back a cry, his normally brilliant mind reduced to a babbling wreck. But then he heard something that was so out of place in this fiery hell, but such an everyday situation, that for a moment all his panic was forgotten and he was back at home, Tadashi spewing one of his rants at him while Hiro nodded, pretending to be listening.

"What were _you_ thinking, Hiro?" It was barely a whisper, but it was Tadashi.

Hiro's shoulders trembled from a wealth of emotions he couldn't name. "Tada-nii?" He sounded like a frightened child.

With a sob he crawled to his brother side, palms burning in the blistering floor in his haste to be closer to Tadashi. Every action burnt him and every breath filled his chest with bright hot pain, but the alternative was unthinkable, Hiro had to be next to his brother. He stretched his hand, fingers barely touching Tadashi's pale, hot cheek.

"Are you alright?" Tadashi muttered with concern.

Hiro nodded weakly. He listened intently to Tadashi's haggard breaths, trying to gauge how badly he was hurt.

"You have to get out of here, bud."

"Not without you!" He screams right back. They should be dead, Hiro knew that somehow though, they were not. A strong had cradled his face to Tadashi's chest, Hiro could hear soft reassuring mumbles coming out of his brother's mouth. Pressing himself closer to Tadashi's side, he closed his eyes, pretending to be anywhere else but here.

.

Half the time Hiro wasn't sure if he was awake or asleep. Everything was a blur through his tired aching head and half closed eyes, one second melting into the next and each breath a laborious endeavor. All he could hear was the hissing of the flames and the smell of burning skin while trying to gasp air into his starved lungs. Tadashi's arm wrapped around him was his only safe line and in return, he grasped the sleeve of Tadashi's cardigan fiercely.

He closed his eyes for a few minutes and when he opened them again he was being carried by someone. He looked around in panic, looking for his brother, a moan drifted through the air and Hiro turned to see them pulling Tadashi from a pile of debris. His brother was loaded up on a gurney and moved to the ambulance, Hiro was seated next to him, absently wondering if Tadashi was supposed to be so pale.

A hand catches his chin and he hissed softly when it brushed on his injured skin, he looked up at a face. The lips were moving, but Hiro couldn't seem to make sense of what they were saying. A man flashed a light in his eye making him wince and he looked away, gaze locking on the shallow rise and fall of Tadashi's chest instead. They placed a mask over his mouth and tried to pry him away from his brother. _They lost_ , Hiro kept his hand on Tadashi's sleeve the whole way to the hospital, never letting go.

When they arrived, they were separated, and Hiro wanted to cry because his brother was hurt and he should not be left alone. Please, let him be with Tadashi, he muttered when he was ushered to a wheelchair.

" _Please_." He begged to the nurse that guided him down the hallway. She gave him a sad little smile and moved the breathing mask out of the way when Hiro's vision started to spin and he promptly vomited on the gray tiles of the hospital floor. Before he fully grasped what was happening, he found himself lying in a bed with crisp white sheets.

Aunt Cass was there, and Hiro tried to ask about Tadashi, but the words seemed too thick to push past his lips. He was crying now, not sure why, but Hiro was crying and he was confused. He hurt all over and he wanted his big brother. Aunt Cass put a hand on his cheek and the look in her eyes was enough to calm the rushing in his mind. Then a nurse pushed a needle into an IV he didn't know was there. He remembers breathing out a soft; _Nii-chan_ , and no more.

.

Hiro woke up with something uncomfortable on his face, he cracked an eye open and found the room disorienting dark. He blinked away the heaviness from his eyes and tried to look around, slowly when his fuzzy head began to throb. His body ached and whined while a thick fog danced in his mind. Nausea rolled in his stomach, and a helpless groan of suffering got caught in his dry throat. He tried to take a deep breath and regretted when it ignited a sharp pain in his chest, followed by a coughing fit. His eyes felt puffy, limbs stiff and sore, and his sheets were soaked with sweat.

He felt like he'd been hit by a bus. Hiro was almost tempted to close his eyes and go back to sleep. Images of Tadashi, face twisted in torment and eyes wide with fear, greeted him when he tried. Images of fire, the smell of burnt skin, hot air licking at his skin. Hiro opened his eyes with a gasp and pushed himself into a seating position with caution, the excruciating pain in his arm made him grit his teeth.

Biting down a whimper of pain, he put his feet on the floor, the movement set the room spinning and his weak knees threatened to give out beneath him. He managed to stagger out his room on heavy feet, peeking through doors, looking for his brother. He found Aunt Cass in his brother room, holding his hands between her own. Her clothing was rumpled from sleep, eyes shadowed and tired, but they met his with a surprising amount of irritation and she opened her mouth.

Only Hiro was not listening, his breath caught in his chest when he was presented with the sight of Tadashi. Despite the fact that there was blood clinging to his hair, his face smudged, and bandages wrapped his body, Hiro could have sworn that his brother was simply sleeping. He looked so peaceful. It was too quiet. He didn't like this, Tadashi looked so achingly innocent laying there that Hiro couldn't look away.

"Hiro, what are you doing up?" she demanded. "You're supposed to be in bed!"

Hiro gave her a defeated look and a moment later he was trapped in her embrace, her arms gently pulling him towards her. She kissed his head softly and ushered him slowly and gently to the chair where she was seating, her fingers running through his back were a comfortable weight.

"Why isn't he waking up?" Hiro demanded.

"Doctors say he will wake up soon."

Hiro turned to look at his brother, "You know," he whispered as his fingertips ghosted softly over Tadashi's arm, "I think this time you were the idiot brother."

When Tadashi didn't reply, Hiro sank silently into the chair beside the bed and watched over his older brother. For now, staying next to Tadashi while he slept was enough for Hiro.

.

He watched as the needle sank into Tadashi's arm, the vial filling of blood right away and Hiro let out a heavy sigh when his brother did not even twitch. He saw with rapt attention the procedure and applied pressure with the small ball of cotton against the tiny wound when the doctor asked him to.

"How long?" Hiro asked in a croaky voice, frowning as the doctor scribbled some more notes on the vial's label before looking up.

"It could be from a few hours to a day for Tadashi to wake up, until then I suggest you should get some sleep." The doctor looked down at his notes again, with a faint smile and excused himself.

Was it weird to miss someone who was right next to him? Hiro missed Tadashi, he missed the sleepless nights working on intriguing projects, the mumbled promises of forever after a bad day, the smell of grease when calloused hands messed up his hair. But Hiro was angry also. Not just the _count to 10 and get over it angry_ , but the furiously enraged kind. The one that makes you want to punch your brother in the face.

Hiro had taken a peek at his older brother chart when no one was looking, despite looking healthier than when they first arrived, his vitals and brain activity were normal and his wounds were healing, Tadashi still wasn't awake. Hiro shifted on the uncomfortable hospital chair, glanced over his shoulder at the mostly shut door and jabbed a finger in Tadashi's ticklish spot. "Come on, will you wake up?" Tadashi did not react, Hiro hadn't expected anything else.

"I want you to know that Aunt Cass is really worried about you." Still no answer. "Maybe I'm also a little worried too," Hiro said after a small pause, swallowing the knot that was forming in his sore throat.

He waits for a response even though he knows Tadashi will not move or make a sound and if not for the steady beating of his heart, he could very well be dead. Hiro swallows several times again, but he still feels the panic building in his chest so he shakes himself and crawls into Tadashi's bed, laying his head on his pillow and latching into his hand.

.

Hiro whined when a hand got tangled in his hair, pushing him out of dreamland. He was comfortable and cozy and want nothing more than curl up and get back to napping. He let himself be lulled by the motion, for a few minutes, his heavy head not understanding why he had the feeling that he should wake up.

Then he remembered the fire burning through his flesh, Tadashi's labored and painful breath, the smell. The room came into focus and Hiro shot up, almost head butting Tadashi as he tried to sit. He swerved to the side when he moved his head to fast and was catch by Aunt Cass hands. He groaned as he felt his headache come back and his stomach rolls over in an uncomfortable manner.

"Calm down before you fall out of bed, bud," Tadashi said with a chuckle.

Hiro flings himself at Tadashi, throwing his arms around his brother and embracing him tighter than ever as if to keep him here with him, almost like if he let go, Tadashi would leave and Hiro would be all alone again. He can't be alone again. He buries his face deep into Tadashi's shoulder and lets out a long, drawn-out sob, one that makes him look like a little kid who just woke up from a nightmare and needs his big brother reassurance that everything will be fine. Only Hiro did wake up from a nightmare, _one where their lives were at stake_.

"You idiot," Hiro wails into Tadashi's chest. "You absolute moron. I thought you were going to die." He cries, cleaning his runny nose on his brother hospital gown in revenge.

Before Tadashi could open his mouth, Hiro cut him out, already knowing what he was going to say. "No. You don't get to apologize. You fucked up." Hiro said, raising an accusing finger at him. He heard Aunt Cass sigh at his word choice but nothing more was said about his cussing.

Tadashi seemed taken aback as his shoulders slumped, eyes flickering to the ground, breaking their gaze. A soft sigh escaped his lips before he placed his attention back on his little brother. His eyes glistened, seeming as if Tadashi was on the verge of tears, guilt written all over his face.

"You are infuriating!" Hiro yelled at Tadashi. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen. I cannot believe you and your desire of helping everyone, think about yourself for a minute. Think about me." Hiro yells, forgetting that they are in a hospital. Tadashi looks even paler if possible and for a moment Hiro feels proud for making his brother suffer as much as he did.

"Hiro," Tadashi chokes out and reaches a hand with a grimace and Hiro immediately takes it between his on.

He ignores the look on Tadashi's face when he sees Hiro's bandaged hand and continues. "What would I do without you?" He mumbles, swallowing thickly, head spinning and Tadashi's hands are suddenly clasping his shoulders.

"You alright?" The concern in Tadashi's voice makes tears streaming down his face and when he tries to speak, he becomes a blubbering mess. It's embarrassing. He's a grown man, a teenager, but he's crying like an infant.

"Tada-nii," he sobs out.

"Hey, hey, hey," Tadashi whispers, and wraps his arms around him, pushing him to his chest, placing a hand on the back of his head, leading Hiro's face back into his neck. He inhales his older brother comforting scent and fists the clothing in his clenched hands. He feels Tadashi tighten his arms around his shaking frame, and Hiro realizes how hysterical he must be.

"Shh." His older brother hushes his soft cries whilst combing a hand through his wild strands repeatedly. "You're okay now."

Except Hiro is not. Tadashi was all he had and Hiro almost lost him. "I," he says and when he starts he can't seem to stop, it's a tumble of words, one after another. "I wasn't sure we would make it out of there alive. I thought you were going to die. What would I do? I can't even imagine it, I don't want to either." Hiro breaks off, gasping.

"Shh," Tadashi hushes him again, pressing a warm kiss into his temple. "I got you, little brother." He whispers, rubbing circles into his back, and it almost makes Hiro cry harder. "I got you, I promise."

Hiro makes a discontented noise in the back of his throat, his IV pulling painfully on his arm but he ignores it. He squeezes Tadashi with so much force that his burns sing in agony, but once again, Hiro doesn't let go. He catches Aunt Cass eyes, tries to smile at her, but she shakes her head at them and sighs. Hiro blinks quickly trying to avoid any more tears.

"I am so happy to see you, knucklehead," Tadashi whispers in his ear and Hiro cannot take it anymore, he clings to his older brother, melting into the embrace and gives a tearful little laugh no more caring about tears. He cries days and weeks of pent-up rage, hurt, and doubt, every little thing spilling out.

"Never again," Hiro punctuates the words with a jab each time, making Tadashi retaliate equally.

Tadashi sends looks over his shoulder and sends a smile at Aunt Cass, returning his attention to Hiro right away, an evil glint in his eyes. "Just tell me _one_ thing, what the hell were you thinking, Hiro Hamada? _Are you hurt_? I see bandages, is it serious?What the hell, _Hiro,_ _answer me_!"


End file.
